Truth be Told
by xenocia
Summary: Ever since Remus Lupin came to Hogwarts, his friends knew he had a dark secret, and in time, they found out what it was. But what did the future Marauders think Remus' secret was before then? They couldn't've guessed it the first time...
1. New Transfer Student

Oh, snap. It's been five years, but now I'm back and revising the old chapters plus adding at least one new chapter. Stay tuned! This chapter only has some minor revisions in grammar and to make the flow better.  
Disclaimers: I do not own the Harry Potter universe or characters. Plot and Jay are mine. :p

Professor Minerva McGonagall, head of Gryffindor House, walked into the filled common room. It was a rare enough occurrence to see the strict thirty-year-old woman inside the Gryffindor quarters that the students became quiet instantly.

McGonagall cleared her throat. "We have a new 3rd year student transferring to Hogwarts this year. Come on in, Remus." A thin boy stepped through the portrait hole. He had light brown hair that framed a rather feminine and attractive face, but at a closer glance one could see he was slightly drawn, not simply slender as he appeared to be. His most salient feature, however, had to be his eyes. They were a warm hazel brown flecked with bits of vivid green and seemingly endless in depth. He shuffled his feet nervously as McGonagall said, "This is Remus Lupin, and he was originally home tutored before Professor Dumbledore accepted him into Hogwarts. He has just been sorted privately — the results are obvious. Please make him feel welcome."

She turned to address a small cluster of boys who were ignoring her and talking to each other in low tones. "Potter, Pettigrew, Black!" She barked. Two of the boys jumped while the tallest of the three swore in irritation, "No profanity, Mr. Black — five points from Gryffindor." All the students groaned, grumbling about how Sirius was always costing them points. McGonagall waited for the room to quiet down again before continuing, "Remus will be sharing a room with the three of you." She looked at each of the boys sternly, "I trust you will take good care of him." Turning and stepping out of the portrait hole, she left Remus Lupin amongst the denizens of Gryffindor House.

Remus continued to stand in the same place Professor McGonagall had left him as the older students returned to what they were doing, uninterested in the new student. The first years, on the other hand, giggled and nudged each other when they walked by Remus, making him blush uncomfortably. Distracted, he didn't notice the three boys walking up to him.

"Looks like you've got a rival, Sirius."

"I guess I do," there was an exaggerated sigh. Remus turned his attention to the trio, a confused expression on his face.

The middle one scratched his unruly black hair, "My name's James Potter."

"And mine's Sirius Black," the tallest said lazily. "The little one here is Peter Pettigrew," he continued, pointing at the slight boy to his right.

"I'm —" Remus began.

"Remus Lupin," Sirius cut in, stifling a yawn. "We heard."

"You'll have to forgive Sirius, Remus," James grinned apologetically. "He's not used to having competition."

"Com…petition?"

"You catch almost as much attention as Sirius does with his 'rebellious' attitude — as the girls like to call it — with your pretty boy looks and new student status." James explained, still grinning.

Remus looked at James doubtfully, deciding to ignore the flippant comment. "What about you then, James? It doesn't seem that girls are adverse to you." He nodded at a group of 2nd years that were eyeing James intently and scribbling on a piece of paper.

"Oh, that? It's just because I'm Seeker for the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Sirius tolerates me, if only because he considers me his 'friend'."

"Shut up," Sirius said, punching James lightly on the arm before asking Remus, "Do you want to see the room?"

"Sure."

"There are five beds to each room, and we've had a space open since the first year. If you're lucky, Jayson will be in there. He generally likes to keep moving around, but he likes his naps just as much," James explained, grinning wryly as they climbed the stairs toward the dormitories.

After passing various doors, they stopped at one three levels up. "Your things will have already been brought up, so you won't need to worry about that," Sirius said softly.

"Why are we whispering?" Remus asked, his voice equally quiet.

Sirius grinned wickedly. "It wouldn't be nice to wake Jay if he's in there." He opened the door silently and motioned towards a four-poster bed with a curtain pulled around it.

"You might want to stay back for this," James cautioned as Sirius began to pull back the curtains. "Jay doesn't mean to, but he's rather dangerous when he's asleep."

Sirius poked the curled sleeping figure tentatively. It muttered inarticulately and flung an arm at the offender halfheartedly before returning to sleep again. Satisfied with the response he got, Sirius proceeded to pull out his wand and point it at the napping lump.

"What is Sirius going to do?" Remus asked, giving James a sidelong glance.

James rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "He might try cursing Jayson."

"_What?_"

"Don't worry. He won't cast anything that can't be remedied by Madam Pomfrey, our school's head nurse." When Remus continued to look uncertain James chuckled and said, "Just watch."

"S-Sirius does this all the time. Jayson's _always_ beating him badly in d-duels." Peter fidgeted. Remus started; he had nearly forgotten Peter was standing behind them.

"Yeah, so Sirius will try to beat him in whatever way possible," James chuckled.

Remus frowned, "But what about you?"

"Me?" James sighed theatrically and winked, "I'll only attack Jay when he's in a coma — it's far safer. Sirius and I might be considered the cleverest of our year, but Jayson's the best at dueling out of all of us. When I duel with Sirius it usually comes out to a draw. The rest of the time we each win and lose enough to each other to keep us both humble."

Sirius cleared his throat pointedly.

"Keep alert, Remus," James advised.

Sirius muttered an incantation and an emerald needle shot out of his wand. It sped towards Jayson, but just before it reached him a fierce white fire flared, making the green light bounce in James' direction. The Quidditch player ducked almost lazily and pulled out his wand as the spell blasted a hole in the wall behind him.

Without even having to turn and look back, James pointed his wand at the hole and said, "_Reparo,_" with well practiced ease. The wall restored itself, and Jayson continued to sleep.

Sirius began swearing loudly and yelled, "Jayson Riven! You and your accursed elven blood! Wake up, you cheater!"

Jayson made a small waving motion with his hand and answered blearily, "Not now, Sirius. I'm sleeping. Go 'way."

James cut in before Sirius had time to respond, "We've got a new roommate for you to meet, Jay."

In a flash, Jayson was up, and Remus found himself looking at a pair of clear blue eyes bright with unfettered excitement and curiosity.

"My name is Jayson Riven," he said, shaking Remus' hand jovially. "And let me guess. Your name is Remus Lupin."

"Yes, that's right. How'd you know?"

Jayson ran a gloved hand through his short, spiky blonde hair, "Your bags." He grinned and pointed at a bed with luggage piled unceremoniously on top of it.

"Don't be fooled by him, Remus. Riven here could beat you senseless and not break a sweat," Sirius glared at Jayson malevolently.

"Siriiiiuuuuuuus," Jayson whined, tugging on Sirius' arm insistently and pouting pitifully, "you make meeee look like the bad guy! Why are you so mean to me? Siriiiuuus!"

Sirius, looking thoroughly irritated, tried to pry Jayson from his arm to no avail. "James, get this _thing_ off of me," he groaned.

"Aw, but Sirius, I reckon it's sweet," James smiled wickedly.

Remus was caught in between feeling deeply amused and utterly perplexed. Noticing this, Peter leaned sideways a bit and whispered, "I wouldn't worry too much, they're always like this... Fighting over one thing or another..."

James looked over his shoulder at Remus and commented in a louder tone, "It's like a cycle. Sirius complains about how Jayson wins duels because he's part elf. Then he sets out an elaborate plan to attack Jayson when he's asleep or when he's still groggy in the morning. In the end, Jayson wins every time... Well, except for that time when Jayson was drunk..." James chuckled at the memory.

Remus had heard Sirius say something before, but wasn't quite sure about it until James mentioned it again. "Did you say Jayson was an elf?"

"Part elf, to be exact," Jayson said matter-of-factly. "My grandmother's an elf—"

"—and one of the most gorgeous creatures in the world." Sirius added in solemnly.

Jayson laughed at the look of confusion on Remus' face. "Not house elves, mind," Jayson soothed, correctly interpreting Remus' expression. "She's of the northern breed. They're tall, proud creatures and very different from house elves."

"But what does that have to do with you winning duels?"

"The northern elves have lived in conjunction with nature for a long time. For so long, in fact, that the ability to manipulate raw magic without some kind of channel or medium runs through their blood."

"Like wands or spells," Sirius elaborated.

Jayson nodded and grinned, "Luckily, I inherited the ability from my grandmother. It makes life a great deal easier." He winked, "But all this is a secret. Dumbledore figures that it wouldn't be a good idea for the rest of the school to know. They'd probably all avoid me or think I was some odd magical creature. See?" He pulled something out of a nearby trunk to show to Remus, "I even carry around a wand for when I'm doing magic."

"Oh, I see. I'll keep it a secret, I promise," Remus said seriously.

Jayson burst out laughing at the solemnity on Remus' face, "I'm not asking you to take it to the grave or anything! You don't have to look so somber."

"I know what it feels like… to have a secret," Remus murmured, thinking his silent lament would be swallowed in the din created by Jayson and James' mirth filled voices. Wrapped in his reverie, he didn't notice Sirius glance at him quizzically before returning his attention to the persistent blonde hanging on his arm.

*~~~*

That night, as Remus lay in bed, he considered the new people he had met. He was still adjusting to being around so many people. Before, he had been kept in the house at all times; his parents feared the contaminating beast that resided within Remus. Remus wasn't naïve, not any more. He had heard about how Muggles and wizards treated creatures like giants, vampires, and lastly, werewolves. He had heard stories of how Muggles stoned, abused, and burned the unnatural. Wizards were no different. The same degree of fear and hate was still evident, just stifled by respect for the law.

When Remus was ten, he ran away from home, hoping against hope that not all people were truly as hateful as his parents said. The moment he reached a nearby town he told the first child he saw his secret. The child took the werewolf in hand, eager to show off his new playmate. He spoke bluntly and truthfully, as children are wont to do, and the child's parents pushed the confused Remus into the dirt of the street and slammed their wooden door shut. When Remus returned the next day, parents in the street took their children by the hand and whispered amongst themselves as they threw nervous glances at Remus. A few of the older children found rocks and drove Remus from the town. By the end of the day, Remus was found back at the front of his house, crying and bleeding profusely.

Since that time, Remus had been content to simply stay at home and remain immersed in his books and studies. Then Dumbledore came. Remus never wondered why Dumbledore had come to him specifically and supposed he wouldn't ever know. But the man called Albus Dumbledore insisted on having Remus enroll at a school called Hogwarts. Remus only had two reservations: being away from his overprotective parents and being around people again. Dumbledore allowed Remus to think about it, giving Remus the time to consider.

For various reasons, Remus eventually decided to go, and that was how he ended up sleeping in the dark room with four people he barely knew. They were nice people, to be sure, but strangers nonetheless. Remus rested the back of his palm on his forehead and sighed.

First there was James Potter with his messy black hair and chocolate brown eyes. With his ready smile and perceptive comments, Remus found James to be the easiest to talk to at first. Remus assumed James had snared the attentions of many girls with a kind smile and a helping hand. Though it also seemed that he could be quite unreasonable when too caught up by Sirius' fervent enthusiasm for life and excitement.

Then there was Peter Pettigrew, the nervous shadow. He was short and had waxy hair, beady eyes, and a nose that quivered constantly. Whenever anyone spoke to him he jumped. Even when simply standing, Peter would wring his hands and fidget uncomfortably. When joining a conversation he always stammered and looked for approval from his friends. Peter simply adored James and Sirius, always agreeing with or supporting them. Remus couldn't tell if Sirius and James were simply ignoring it or they had been with Peter for so long it was normal, but either way, Remus wasn't sure how he felt about Peter.

After Peter, there was also Jayson Riven, the boy that reminded Remus of a little puppy. Charismatic, care-free, and forever excited by some interesting thing or another were shining qualities in the blonde. Jayson had mentioned earlier that he spent time learning all sorts of martial arts and then proved it by flipping Sirius in one fluid movement. He beamed at Remus afterward, not because he was boasting, but because he seemed to genuinely enjoy making people laugh.

Lastly, there was Sirius, the tallest and undoubtedly the most handsome of the four. He kept his straight black hair at shoulder length, without any particular preference as to how to dress it. From stories, Remus learned of Sirius' infamous temper which was hard to bring out, but even harder to keep in check after being released. Sirius was also by far the most unpredictable. He constantly came up with new half-brained ideas and pranks, and always managed to get into some sort of trouble.

Remus pressed the heels of his hands to his eyes. Thinking he should probably get some sleep, he turned over and fell into a restless doze.

*~~~*

"_What?_" Jayson exclaimed. "But you just left last month… and the month before! Why are you leaving again already?"

Remus continued to pack his bags silently. When the four had woken up, they found Remus a shade paler than the night before and packing up a few of his belongings. Remus made a face, "Don't complain Jayson, it'll only be for about a week or so. I have to go visit my mother — she's ill." Remus left abruptly before Jayson could say anything else. He remembered leaving one of his books in the Common Room the other night and thought it would probably be better to put it back in his trunk if he wasn't going to be around for the next week.

Once in the Common Room, Remus promptly ran into a 3rd year Gryffindor girl he remembered vaguely from his Potions class. "Oh! Remus! Perfect. If you would just hold this…" She thrust a bag at Remus, who instinctively held it. "Do _not_ look into that bag. But don't put it down either! Just…stay…right…there," she bolted out of the portrait hole. Remus held onto the bag dumbly, not sure what he ought to do.

Before he could decide anything, Sirius came down the dormitory stairs and dropped Remus' things onto the floor. "You almost forgot to bring your things. I don't know what you were doing coming down here —" Sirius stopped in mid-sentence to look curiously at the bag, "What've you got there?"

"Sirius, don't look into the bag!" But Sirius had already gotten a glimpse of the contents.

"Fine, if you're going to get so defensive about it, I'll go back upstairs," he turned abruptly and walked up the stairs.

As Sirius went out of sight, the 3rd year came rushing back into the Common Room. She took the bag from Remus. "Thanks!" Then she glared at him suspiciously, "You didn't look did you?"

"No, of course not!" Remus replied automatically, not daring to mention his encounter with Sirius.

"Good!" She grinned impishly than ran up into the girls' dormitories.

*~~~*

Sirius ran up the stairs and into their dorm room as soon as he was sure he was out of Remus' line of sight. There, he quickly gathered the other three boys. "Have you ever thought there was something odd about Remus?"

"Like he was keeping something from us?" James suggested.

"Yeah, that's exactly what I'm thinking about."

"You _know_ something, don't you?" Jayson asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I just saw Remus carrying a bag… of well… female products…"

"Like make-up?" Jayson whispered.

"No, not make-up. You know…female products…" Sirius looked uncomfortable, "the kind they use monthly."

"What?"

"_What?_"

"Oh…OHHH…"

"Really?"

"Yes!"

"What do you think it means?" Peter muttered.

Sirius sighed. "It can only mean one thing. It all adds up. Remus leaving once every month, the bag of…stuff…"

"Well?" Jayson urged, looking around at the other two for answers. Then he saw comprehension dawn on James' face and Sirius smiled smugly.

"Remus is a girl."


	2. Moaning Myrtle

Just really minor changes again, nothing big.

Disclaimers: I do not own the Harry Potter universe or characters. Nor do I own any of the Kushiel Dart characters. Plot and Jay are mine. :p

Peter gaped, "S-Sirius, you're…"

"…an idiot," James finished flatly.

Peter squeaked. "N-no! I didn't mean…" he trailed off and muttered inarticulately, but Sirius wasn't listening anyway.

"I am _not_ an idiot! Just look at the evidence! The bag of stuff, his gaggle of girl friends, and have you _looked_ at his face? He's too damn _pretty _to be a guy!" Sirius protested.

"_A girl, a girl, a girl in the dorm_," Jayson chanted happily as he bounced up and down, clearly not paying any attention to the ongoing argument.

"That's not solid evidence! Just because Remus is prettier than you are, it _does not mean_ that he's a girl!" James hissed.

Sirius rubbed his temples as Jayson's singing got louder. "I know he's a girl, James. I _know girls_. If anyone's able to tell a guy from a girl, it's me!"

"_A girl, a girl, a girl, a girl, a girl…_"

"Jay! Would you just shut up for one minute?" Sirius snapped, swiping at the blonde.

Jayson danced out of reach easily, "_A girl, a girl, a girl in the dorm!_"

"What's in the dorm, Jay?" Remus was standing in the doorway looking slightly puzzled. A lock of hair fell across his eyes and he brushed it aside with a small impatient movement.

Sirius gaped, his mouth opening and closing noiselessly. Peter jumped and looked at Remus askance, while James studied Remus intently. Jayson had frozen in the middle of his dance, one leg up as if he were running a marathon and his arms thrown in the air.

Remus glanced at each of them nervously, "What? What's wrong? Did I miss something?" His eyebrows drew together, creating a striking effect on his thin face.

Sirius seemed to snap out of his stunned state, "No-nothing, Remus. It's nothing," he stuttered, pushing the other three out the dorm door past Remus and stumbling down the stairs.

Once in the Common Room, Sirius opened the Fat Lady's portrait and started walking backwards to face his friends. "Did you see that? How could you _not_ think that Remus's a girl after seeing _that_?" Sirius sputtered.

"For the last time, being pretty does not make Remus a girl," James said tiredly, repeating his previous statement, but looking distinctly less confident.

"Remus is so cute!" Jayson burbled happily. "We get to live with a cute girl!"

"You're not starting to believe the lunatic, are you?" James asked, exasperated.

"Jay believes that Remus is a girl and so does Peter! Don't you, Peter?" Sirius looked at the short boy expectantly.

"Er, Sirius…" Peter stammered.

"Sirius! Turn around! You're going to run into—"

Unfortunately, it was too late. Sirius stumbled backwards as he tripped on someone's foot, but a hand grabbed his elbow, supporting Sirius before he fell. "I'm sorry," Sirius muttered, regaining his balance quickly.

"Just try to be a little more aware next time," a light male voice chided gently as Sirius turned to face the person he had tripped on.

Sirius found himself rendered speechless for the second time that day. A boy that looked only a couple years older stood smiling at Sirius quietly. His fine, waist-length hair hung like spun moonlight in a loose ponytail over one shoulder, and he had dark, lambent eyes. But it wasn't only the milk white hair that made him unique, the fact that he seemed to exude innocence and purity made him feel completely ethereal and exotic.

"My name's Alcuin…" The boy offered.

Sirius continued to gawk, and James kicked him lightly before answering, "His name is Sirius."

Sirius flushed and coughed as James introduced himself and the other two. Trying to find something else to focus his attention on, his eyes came to rest on a girl enveloped in a deep red cloak. Half of her face was covered so that only an amused smile could be seen beneath the cloak's hood and her shoulders shook from suppressed laughter.

Seeing the direction of Sirius' gaze, Alcuin cleared his throat with a deceptively serene smile on his face. "This is Phèdre; you could almost call her my sister. Don't be impolite, Phèdre. Take down the hood of your _sangoire_ cloak."

Sirius, who was done being shocked for the day, quickly looked away, _anywhere_ but at the girl who had just pulled down her hood. Jayson and James hissed through their teeth and Peter whimpered. Because if Alcuin had presence because of the rarity of his person and hair color, Phèdre was distinct because of her startling beauty and the defiant strength etched in every line of her face and body. Her thick, dark hair was held up in a mesh caul and there was a red mote in the shadowy iris of her left eye.

Phèdre's full lips curved into a smile and she stepped up to touch Alcuin's arm briefly, "We should get going. We'll miss him if we don't." She nodded courteously at the small group of boys and walked through the still open portrait hole with Alcuin following close behind.

Jayson looked around, blue eyes wide. "What… What was _that_?"

---

Alcuin shook his head, "So they think he's a girl, do they?" he mused.

"I can see why they think so," Phèdre said agreeably.

"Should we say anything?"

"I see no reason to. They'll figure it out on their own eventually," a slow smile spread across her face.

---

Remus shrugged off the odd reactions of his friends. He had time to talk to them later, but now he had to finish a few things before he left to go home for the next few days. It was a bit of a hassle to travel all the way home every month, but so far it was the safest place for Remus to weather out his lupine change. Of course, staying on Hogwarts grounds was out of the question. It was too much of a liability to have a wild werewolf running around school campus and endangering the entire student population.

After a few moments of attending his trunk and making sure it was locked and spelled properly (Jayson could get into nearly anything if he focused long enough), Remus started out the door. Before he even crossed over the threshold he was stopped by the two temporarily apprenticed under Madame Pomfrey. Remus had only met Alcuin and Phèdre a handful of times, and each time they were polite and cordial, but they had never sought him out before.

"You won't be needing anything except for your cloak," Alcuin said as he handed the younger boy the things Sirius had brought down to the Common Room for Remus earlier. "We've found a place you can stay."

"And a way to get you there," Phèdre added.

After Remus locked away his belongings, the three walked out onto the Hogwarts grounds and towards a large tree with a tangle of menacing branches. As they drew closer, the tree began to thrash out at them violently. Alcuin and Phèdre stopped just short of the tree's reach and turned to Remus.

"This is a Whomping Willow," Phèdre explained. "It's guarding a passageway that runs from Hogwarts to Hogsmeade. The passage leads to a decrepit, boarded up house where you will be staying for the next few days. It's a well known haunted house so the townspeople give it a wide berth. Dumbledore's persuaded the residential ghost to move out for us. You'll have the whole place to yourself. The conditions aren't ideal, but it's safe and it's close to Hogwarts."

"How do you get pass the flailing branches?" Remus asked dubiously. He was not looking forward to being impaled by tree branches.

"See that knot over there?" Alcuin pointed. "All you have to do is press it and the tree will freeze. Take out your wand and see if you can get it."

Remus pulled out his wand and sent a spray of sparks flying at the knot. The first attempt ended in failure when the tree batted at the sparks waspishly, causing them to dissipate. The second try was successful and the tree froze.

Alcuin smiled, "That's all you have to do. Now, before you leave, do you have anything you need to ask us? Are you settling in alright with your friends?"

Remus shifted from one foot to another, looking uncomfortable, "They do think that I'm weird for leaving every month, but I don't think they suspect anything," he looked thoughtful for a moment. "They have been acting a little weird today though, now that I think about it."

Phèdre hid a grin as Alcuin prompted, "So you're doing fine then?"

"Well, there is another thing." Remus looked slightly embarrassed, "There's no one I can talk to. I have this huge secret that I can't even tell my roommates, and I feel… I feel as if I might explode if I can't talk to someone who knows about it more often…" Remus blushed. "Does that sound weird? I'm sorry, I'm just being silly."

"I'd say that you could talk to us whenever you like…" Alcuin began.

"But we're never around," Phèdre finished. "There is… there is Myrtle, or Moaning Myrtle, as some of the school likes to call her. The Ministry of Magic just got her to come back to Hogwarts, and she's been sulking ever since. She says there's no one for her to talk to. Now, if I ask her to keep your secret she will, so that's always an option. It's not a great one, but it's an option nonetheless."

"Where would I find her if I wanted to talk to her?" Remus asked, curious despite his misgivings.

"The girl's bathroom on the first floor," Phèdre said as Alcuin turned a startled laugh to a cough.

"What do you mean?"

"Moaning Myrtle's a ghost."

---

Remus walked into the Great Hall a couple days afterwards, feeling wane and exhausted. Spotting his friends sitting in their usual spot at the Gryffindor table, he made his way towards them. Sirius was whispering heatedly to James, Jayson, and Peter and making animated gestures, but as Remus came within earshot of them, they grew quiet instantly and stared at him.

"Er, hello…" Remus finally greeted them after an awkward silence.

Sirius regained his composure and asked, "So how's your _mother_, Remus?"

Remus looked away and coughed. "She's doing… better. Thanks for asking."

There was another period of uncomfortable silence.

"Oh, Remus! You won't _believe_ the pair we met right before you left!" Jayson burst out suddenly, apparently unable to stand the absence of noise and chatter.

"T-that's right. They were…" Peter trailed off, at a loss for words.

"Stunning," James supplied.

"Are you talking about Phèdre and Alcuin?" Remus asked, startled. When he saw the looks on his friends' faces he kicked himself mentally.

Sirius looked at Remus suspiciously, "How do you know them?"

"I… I…" Remus stammered, thinking fast. Luckily, Jayson unconsciously came to Remus' rescue with his usual flow of chatter.

"Now we know lots of pretty girls! We know my grandma, we know Phèdre, and we know Re—"

At that moment, three things happened simultaneously. Sirius, who was sitting in front of Jayson, stuffed a large piece of toast into Jayson's mouth. James pulled out his wand, pointed it at Jay, yelling, "_Stupefy!" _and managed to stun Peter instead since Sirius unwittingly pushed Jayson out of the harm's way when he shoved the toast in the blonde's mouth. This, however, caused the spell to hit the unfortunate Peter, who was sitting on Jayson's other side.

Jayson hacked and coughed, "What are you trying to do, Sirius?!"

"You're too thin, you need to eat more."

"You almost made me choke to death!"

"That was the idea," Sirius muttered darkly, but Jayson had already turned his attention to James.

"And you, James! What are you trying to stun me for?"

"There was a bug," James answered lamely, trying to revive the stunned Peter.

Jayson frowned. "That's not… Ah!" Jayson jumped up onto his chair, pointing an accusatory finger. "I know what it is! It was a sneak attack! An ambush! That's a new low, especially for you James!"

James held out his hands in an attempt to help Jayson get off his chair. "Jay, now calm down. No one's trying to ambush you," he soothed. "Breakfast is almost over. Why don't we just forget the whole thing and just finish eating," he continued placatingly. It didn't seem that Jayson needed more convincing though, because he only had to look at James thoughtfully for a moment before he decided to sit back down in his chair and continue eating as if nothing happened.

"You're forgiven," Jayson said cheerfully through mouthfuls of food.

"What was all _that_ about?" Remus demanded as James checked to see if any of the teachers had noticed the disruption.

James shrugged, "It would've been bad for Jay to get mad in the Great Hall. I still remember the last time he got angry. He called down a huge thunderbolt that near brought down the roof. Everyone thought it was just some kind of freak storm, but it's probably better if it doesn't happen again."

"Not that. You know what I mean. What was with the stunning and the toast?"

James mumbled something and before Remus could press him further, the bell rang.

"Well then!" James said, clapping his hands together, "It's time for class now! No time to talk, Remus, we don't want to be late for Potions." He placed his hands firmly on Remus' shoulders and steered the smaller boy out of the Great Hall, Peter, Sirius, and Jayson trailing after them. Sirius and James chattered loudly over Remus' head, ignoring his questions.

"I've got to go to the bathroom," Remus declared suddenly, looking slightly harassed.

James raised an eyebrow, but let Remus go, nodding. "Alright, we'll see you in Potions then."

It wasn't until Remus was out of sight that Sirius exclaimed, "Wait a minute! That's not the way to the guy's bathroom! That's the corridor for the girl's bathroom!" They all looked at each other briefly before dashing after Remus.

They skidded to a halt as they neared the girl's bathroom and watched, hiding behind a pillar, as Remus looked around carefully before opening the door.

"Ah HA!" Sirius yelled triumphantly.

Jayson looked like he was highly enjoying himself, "Dumdumdum, the plot thickens!"

"But nobody uses that bathroom," Peter protested. "Not even the girls do if they can help it."

"Exactly," James murmured, "because no one uses it... It's perfect."

"So, question is, what do we do with this information now that we've practically proved it?" Sirius asked, rubbing his hands together.

---

Remus stalked off. It was bad enough when his friends had all stopped talking as he got to the table, but then there was the whole toast and stunning incident. Was it possible that his friends had finally found out? What if they didn't want to be friends anymore? But whatever the case, the events of the morning had convinced Remus that he needed to talk to someone, _anyone_ really, even if that person happened to be a socially disordered, whiny ghost.

Once he got to the right bathroom, he scanned the area quickly — he wouldn't hear the end of it if he was caught going into the girl's bathroom. He slipped in once he was sure that no one was around to witness him entering and walked towards the stalls. "Myrtle?" he called out tentatively.

"Who's there?" a distraught voice wailed.

"I'm Remus. Phèdre said I could talk to you?"

"Oh! So _you're_ Remus!" the voice sounded considerably happier and a female ghost slid through the closed stall door. She moved closer to him, pushing up the rim of her glasses. "We get to talk then, don't we?" she squealed delightedly.

"Yes. Well, this is what's going on..."

---

Remus felt better than he had in months. Despite the fact that Myrtle was a ghost, she was a pretty good listener if he could keep her off her own woes. He finally had someone he was able to talk to, and he went to talk to Myrtle at least three times a week, finding that the ghost was good company and often knew about certain affairs inside of Hogwarts that other people did not, such as hidden passages and so forth.

As Remus reached Myrtle's bathroom, he glanced around quickly and slid through the door. "Myrtle, you'll never guess what Sirius and James are trying to pull off this time!"

"What?" Myrtle's favorite stories were the ones about Sirius and James' antics.

"Swear not to tell!"

"I know, I know. We go through this every time. I won't tell anyone."

"They've decided to work on an Animagus potion, but only enough for them and me."

"But you don't need that potion. It might backfire too, since you're a werewolf. And what about Peter and Jayson?"

"I know I don't need the potion, but I didn't have the heart to let them down, and it'd be weird if I just told them I couldn't be an Animagi. As for Jayson and Peter, they figure Jayson's got enough abilities as it is, and they don't trust that Peter won't tell a professor. So I was thinking that I could let them down gently by cushioning their disappointment with something else."

"Like what?"

"I'll need your help, but I think I can get it to work," Remus said, grinning broadly. "I need you to find me all the passageways in the palace. Every single one made and especially the ones leading to Hogsmeade."

"Alright, I can try. But what are you intending to do? Make a map?" Myrtle asked curiously.

"Exactly. Or rather, more precisely, something that I'm going to call the Marauder's Map."

---

"Have you noticed that Remus has been sneaking off a lot lately?" Sirius asked during a rare moment of studious silence.

"Yeah, I wonder what he...er...she's...up to," James replied, not looking up from his Transfiguration book.

"Oh, I know! I know!" Jayson raised his hand enthusiastically as if he were in class.

"What, Jay?" Sirius rubbed his face tiredly, this potion was going to take a little longer to figure out than he had expected.

"Well, Sirius was acting like this a month or two ago, remember? He was all secretive and sneaky and stuff."

James looked up, "Oh yeah. What _was_ that about? I almost forgot about it with the whole Remus mystery going on."

"Yeah! That was when he was going out with Lily E—"

Sirius got up suddenly, elbowing Jayson hard in the process. "That's it! That's what's been going on!"

James' eyes narrowed. "Lily...who, Sirius?"

Sirius shook his head adamantly, "That's not important now! I think Jay's actually on to something! Remus' got a _boyfriend_!"


	3. Into the Snake Pit

Just some simplifying and editing~  
Disclaimers: I do not own the Harry Potter universe or characters. Nor do I own any of the Kushiel Dart and FFVIII characters. Plot and Jay are mine. :p

"If I was right," Jayson grumbled sullenly, rubbing his skull where Sirius had elbowed him, "why did you go and hit me?"

"I didn't do it on purpose," Sirius said absently.

"A girlfriend, Sirius?" James reached over to feel Sirius forehead, genuinely concerned. "I think you're a little too tired right now, working on this potion and all. Maybe you should get some sleep."

Sirius waved at James' hand waspishly. "I've had just enough sleep, thank you very much Mother," he retorted irritably. "It was Jayson's idea anyway."

"Jay gets a lot of ideas, but you've never listened to them before. The fact that you listened this time is scary," James said dryly.

"That's because he's right for once."

Jayson opened his mouth to protest, but James started talking first. "What in the _world_ would make Jay right?"

"_Because_. It's just like when I was dating—" Sirius gulped and changed subjects. "I just know, ok? How about we just watch him for awhile, and if nothing turns up we drop the whole idea. But if we _do_ find something, you'll know I'm right and nobody's hurt. It's a win-win situation."

James looked at Sirius doubtfully, but finally nodded. "You'd probably do it anyway," he muttered under his breath.

"Now that _that's_ settled, let's go find him," Sirius said happily.

"Oh! Oh! We get to be SPIES!"

Sirius gave Jayson another sound hit on the head.

---

"Selphie! Would you just listen to me?"

The short brunette stopped and spun around to face the taller boy, her face livid. "No! You… you… ARGH!" She threw her hands into the air and stomped her feet in frustration, then continued to stalk off, apparently at a loss for words.

The boy paused for a moment, not sure he should follow her, but after only a moment's consideration, he felt his confidence restore itself. Feeling revived, he pulled out his wand and muttered, "_Orchideous_." A pretty bouquet of deep red roses, sprout from the wand's tip. He took the bouquet into one hand and put his wand away again. "Ok, I can do this," he breathed out slowly.

"Irvine! Irvine Kinneas!"

---

Remus was on his way to the Gryffindor Tower to wait for an owl from Alcuin when he saw one of his Gryffindor friends rush past, wearing his trademark cream colored leather trench coat and closely following a Hufflepuff girl. Remus merely shook his head, thinking that his friend had simply gotten into another spat with one of his many girlfriends. Even though Remus liked Irvine, he was an incorrigible player and flirt who would hit on anything with two legs. In fact, that was how Remus had met Irvine, though now Remus was fairly certain that the auburn haired boy had only been teasing at the time.

Irvine was never unkind to his girlfriends, but he often never cared enough to give flowers or gifts in reconciliation. He would usually excuse himself with a sweet apology and a lopsided grin, and both parties would go their separate ways, more or less appeased. So when Irvine stopped, looking downcast and conjured the pretty bouquet of flowers, Remus' curiosity got the better of him. As he walked towards Irvine, Remus looked down at the note he had received that morning at breakfast from Alcuin, telling him to wait in his dorm room for an owl at about two o'clock. He figured there was still time before the owl would come.

"Irvine! Irvine Kinneas!" Remus called.

The russet haired boy turned around, looking slightly forlorn, but smiled warmly as Remus came closer. "How're you doing, Remus?" he greeted after glancing over his shoulder at where the Hufflepuff girl had disappeared around the corner.

"Are you alright?" Remus asked, worried about his usually irritatingly cheerful friend who rivaled even Jayson when it came to optimism.

"Of course!" He grinned forcefully, but then his face fell and he rubbed his eyes with one hand unhappily. "You're not gonna leave me alone are you?"

Remus pretended to think for a moment. "No," he said flatly.

Irvine groaned exaggeratedly but told Remus anyway. In fact, he seemed a little relieved to be telling someone. "Well, it all started when I met Selphie Tilmitt from Hufflepuff during the Hufflepuff vs. Gryffindor Quidditch match—we're both Chasers. I got to know her and I really started to like her, Remus. I mean _really_ like her." He sighed. "So we started going out, but I asked her to keep it a secret. Because, well, you know, with my reputation, I didn't want any of my old girlfriends to start picking on her because I'm actually serious about her. And… I guess that I didn't explain that, and she got fed up with me, saying she felt like my 'backup girlfriend' and suggesting that maybe I was ashamed of having a _Mudblood_," Irvine flinched at the memory, "for a girlfriend.

"I asked her to come with me to Hogsmeade today so I could explain things to her. And I was! I was going to tell her how I felt, and then we could have talked about how to make our relationship work without all of the secrecy. So we snuck out of Hogwarts and slipped into the Three Broomsticks. We sat down, but when I started to explain to her I... I froze up... I guess I'm just not great under pressure... So when I sat there without saying anything, she just looked at me sadly and left… Eventually, I got my wits back and followed her, and what you just saw was what happened after that." Irvine shook his head dejectedly, pulled his long hair out of its loose ponytail and retied it, combing out the tangles from when he had run his fingers through the bronze strands absently beforehand. Remus pat his shoulder sympathetically, feeling it was better not to say anything for the moment.

Without warning, Irvine's head shot up. "I know what to do!" He blushed furiously at the thought. "I need to prepare, so I won't need these anymore." He blushed even harder and handed Remus the flowers, slightly breathless. "You can have them, I have to go now. Selphie likes daises anyway…"

---

James, Sirius, and Jayson set off to find Remus. For once Peter wasn't tagging along since they had previously omitted him from their study session in order to look for information about the Animagus potion. It was ok if Jay knew, since he wouldn't tell a professor, but no one could be completely sure about the fidgety Peter.

It didn't take them long to find Remus as he was fairly close to the Gryffindor common room. The three hid behind a pillar and watched Remus as he looked at a piece of paper and walked towards a tall boy.

"Who's the red-head?" Sirius scowled, seeing that the boy's hair was styled in a similar fashion to his.

"I don't know him, but I've seen him with Remus a couple times," James replied. "Do you know him, Jay?"

Jayson frowned slightly as he thought. "Oh! I remember now. That's Irvine Kinneas, a fourth year, I believe. He's as big a flirt as you, Sirius, if not bigger."

"What's Remus doing meeting him here?"

"Maybe he asked Remus to meet him here?" James suggested. "That would explain the piece of paper that Remus was holding."

"Oh look!" Sirius hissed. Irvine had given Remus a bouquet of dark roses, a fervent blush showing through his tanned skin before rushing off.

"Oohh… PROOF of a CONFESSION!" Jayson whispered dramatically.

Sirius and James, too shocked to shut Jayson up, watched as Remus put the flowers up to his nose and sniffed them experimentally. A small smile played across the brunette's face as he made his way to the Gryffindor common room, not noticing the three that heard him chuckle to himself and murmur, "Daises…"

"Daises? What daises?" Jayson asked when Remus disappeared behind the portrait hole.

Sirius growled. "What makes you think that I know?"

"I know! He's HALLUCINATING! They say love is blind you know."

Sirius hit Jay for the third time that day.

---

When Remus got back to the dorm room, he deposited the roses on his bed, hiding them behind the hangings and sat down to wait for the message from Alcuin. Remus had asked Alcuin and Phèdre for a favor because he needed help locating some magicked items he had heard of that might be able to help him to subdue his lupine half. Remus wasn't sure whether or not it would work, but it was an idea. The two told him that they themselves had no clue where to find anything potent enough, but they could arrange a meeting with a friend that might, and their friend would contact Remus as soon as possible.

Remus didn't have to wait long, because after a couple minutes a sleek black falcon flew through the dorm window with a loud cry. It circled the room once, dropped a small capsule into Remus' lap and stopped to perch on a bedrail. He opened up the container and pulled out two rolled pieces of paper. One was blank and the other had a message scrawled in smooth, clear handwriting.

_Meet me this weekend in The Hog's Head bar during your trip to Hogsmeade. You'll be able to recognize me; I'll be using Phèdre's sangoire cloak. S2_

_Hyacinthe _

Remus smiled at the small heart at the end of the letter. It was highly likely that Hyacinthe had to wheedle Phèdre into lending her extraordinary cloak. He quickly wrote a reply and sent the falcon back to its master.

---

"I was right! I told you!" Sirius exclaimed triumphantly.

James muttered darkly.

"So what do we do now?" Jayson asked curiously.

"Let's see if anything happens with that guy."

"What guy? The guy who's like an older you? Irvine?"

Sirius snarled.

---

Remus tapped his foot impatiently. If Irvine didn't show up soon, Remus would miss his train to Hogsmeade. It was only yesterday that Irvine had told Remus what his plan was, but he was incredibly nervous about putting it into action. So Remus had offered to help, and now he was standing in an empty classroom waiting for Irvine.

"Hey, Remus!" Irvine strode into the classroom, closing the door behind him. "So how're you going to help me?"

"You're going to practice on me."

"What?!" Irvine yelped. "That… that'd be weird, Remus! You're a guy!"

"That's going to be the least of your worries if you don't get used to just saying it, Irvine. Just pretend that I'm Selphie. Go on."

Irvine continued to hesitate.

"I don't have a lot of time. Do you want my help or not?" Remus asked impatiently. "No one's going to see anything," he said encouragingly.

"Fine, fine," Irvine mumbled, looking thoroughly embarrassed. He took Remus' hand in both of his and gazed into Remus' eyes, still looking highly unsettled, "Remus… er… Selphie… I love you, and I don't want to lose you."

---

"Ok! The 'Follow Irvine' plan is in action!" Jayson said excitedly.

"Right, whatever, just follow him. And don't make any noise!" Sirius ordered.

The normal three followed Irvine, having ditched Peter again, to what appeared to be an empty classroom. They approached the door Irvine had closed, and Sirius scrambled to the lie down on the floor.

"Jay, you look through the keyhole while I listen through the crack at the bottom." Sirius strained his hearing.

_"Remus…"_

"Irvine's holding Remus' hand and he's blushing real hard too! Oooh! They're standing _close_. THIIIIS CLOSE!" Jay demonstrated with his thumb and pointer finger, making them a centimeter apart in distance.

"Shut up, Jay! Tell me later! I can't hear!"

_"…I love you, and I don't want to lose you."_

Sirius cursed and rolled over into Jayson's legs, making the blonde tumble over. Then it was James' turn to curse. "We have to get out of here," he hissed. "They might've heard us!" James, Jayson, and Sirius scrambled to their feet and ran back to Gryffindor Tower.

---

"That was great! Really convincing, just imagine how it'll be with Selphie!" Remus exclaimed. Then he paused. "Did you hear something?"

"Nope, didn't hear a thing," Irvine replied, looking excited. He had let go of Remus' hand as soon as he was finished and was currently rubbing his own together anxiously. "You think she'll forgive me then?"

"Of course! Now I've got to go. I'm meeting someone in Hogsmeade and the train leaves soon."

---

Jayson, Sirius, and James arrived in their dorm room panting and heaving.

"What—do you—think—Remus told him?" Sirius gasped.

"Don't know," James replied, a little less winded due to his vigorous Quidditch practices.

"This _does_ mean that Irvine knows Remus's a girl, right?" Jayson inquired, even less winded because he was…well…Jayson.

"Of course, or else Remus would've denied Irvine straight off the bat when he gave him the flowers," Sirius reasoned.

James nodded. "Right, I don't think that Remus is the type of person to lead someone on."

"I wonder if he kept those flowers in here…" Sirius looked at Remus' things curiously.

"Maybe," Jayson jumped over to Remus' small bedside desk and tried to open the drawer, which shocked him promptly. Jayson frowned and pointed his finger at the ceiling absently. Little distortions of space swirled along Jayson's finger, making an oddly disorientating sight. Once a considerable amount of the distortions had gathered around Jayson's finger he pointed it at the drawer and forced the power into the spell locking the small bedside desk, imploding the spell. With a faint hiss, the drawer popped open, revealing a small scrap of paper.

_Meet me this weekend in The Hog's Head bar during your trip to Hogsmeade. You'll be able to recognize me; I'll be using Phèdre's sangoire cloak. S2_

_Hyacinthe _

The three looked at each other and dashed out the door, hoping that they hadn't missed the train and allowing Jay a few split seconds to replace the spell on the bedside desk.

---

Remus walked into the Hog's Head bar and was leered at by more than a few questionable characters. He looked around for a moment before noticing the figure wrapped in a cloak a red so saturated that it bordered on black.

Remus strode over to the person's table and sat down. "Hyacinthe?" he asked tentatively.

"Yes, that would be me." Hyacinthe took off the cloak and grinned, a flash of white against swarthy skin. He stood up and gave Remus a kiss in greeting, brushing his lips against Remus' briefly. It seemed to be a custom from wherever Alcuin and Phèdre came from, and Remus was somewhat used to the greeting by now.

"It's good to finally meet you. Alcuin and Phèdre speak highly of you." Hyacinthe commented, taking his seat again.

Remus blushed. "Thanks."

"Anytime." Hyacinthe grinned again.

"Phèdre and Alcuin said you might be able to help me?" Remus prompted as he made a quick study of the older boy. Hyacinthe had the same cast of beauty that Phèdre and Alcuin had, but more subtle and to a lesser degree. With dark hair and near-black irises though, he was no horror either. Remus had to wondered if the three were all at least part elf or veela.

Black-blue ringlets fell about Hyacinthe's face as he chuckled. "So to the point!" He reached into a bag behind him and pulled out two pairs of cuffs and a silver dog collar. "I picked cuffs, because they might help you keep from thrashing around, and the collar because it just kind of felt suitable. These are made of solid reinforced silver and are worked with enough narcotic spells to knock out a full grown dragon. Well, that is, if you could get past those scales…"

"That's great! So do you think these will work?"

"They might, but it's hard to say. The lupine capability to adapt and protect is quite strong."

Remus gulped, suddenly feeling oddly embarrassed. "How do I pay you for these?"

Hyacinthe laughed. "Phèdre, Alcuin, and Dumbledore are paying for a lot of it, but nobody's going to think twice about letting you pay for anything." He carefully placed the handcuffs and collar back into his bag and handed it to Remus. "There you go. If you ever need my help again, just ask Phèdre, or if you're in Hogsmeade, go to Night's Doorstep. You should be able to find the area easily enough if you ask around. If you can't find me there, ask for the Prince of Travelers and they should bring you right to me." Hyacinthe flashed Remus another grin and began to walk out of Hog's Head.

"Oh! Can you give the cloak back to Phèdre as well?" He came over and carefully placed the cloak in a different pocket of the bag. "You'll probably see her sooner then me."

---

"Did Remus just walk into Hog's Head?" James asked.

"Ouch! You're stepping on my foot!" Sirius complained.

"Well I'm _sorry_ that my Invisibility Cloak is limited in terms of space. I don't see why your complaining, Sirius. Jay's not even under here; he's got his own version of a Disillusionment Charm."

"Let's just get in there," Sirius grumbled.

Upon entering Hog's Head, they saw Remus talking to an attractive young man who got up and kissed Remus before sitting back down.

"What! What was that?!" Sirius sputtered.

"I thought Remus was going out with Irvine!" Jayson complained.

Hyacinthe placed the cuffs and the collar on the table.

"What in the world…" They watched as the two talked intimately for a few moments until the young man carefully placed the cuffs and collar into a bag and handed them to Remus. He got up, and before leaving, turned around to say something else to Remus, then meticulously placed a dark swath of cloth into the bag as well.

Once out in the open, James and Sirius removed the Invisibility Cloak, and Jayson shed his bit of magic.

"Bondage... That's just _kinky_." Sirius felt like he had just been ambushed.

"AH!" Jayson yelled, pointing a finger at Sirius. "What are you _thinking_ about, Sirius?! Take your head out of the gutter right now!"

"Well what else could it be?" Sirius snapped, his head near exploding with the sheer implications. "So far after watching Remus, we've found out that he... _she's_ a two-timer and psycho dominatrix!"

"I still don't think that sounds like Remus at all. Besides, they might not have been for the guy..." James ventured.

Sirius glared. "That's hardly the point! I think it's time that we sort this out."

Jayson squeaked.

"It's settled then. Tomorrow we confront Remus."


End file.
